Mom had a fall, any advise on this particular type of fall?
My mom had a fall through an accident changing bedding, she fell on her back side. I think one side got most of the impact, I was not there someone else was helping my mom.
One leg is severely restricted than before, my mother has arthritis of both knees. It's the upper part of the leg, upper thigh, and back side
Hospital checks have been done, x-ray, spine checks and there are no fractures of breaks. There's no bruising, not hot to the touch. Trying various massage oils, heat treatment, and was given codine, even though it's not agonizing pain, more movement restriction.
Wondering why the hospital didn't also ask for a neurologist to also check things.
My mom's movement was very restricted anyway this fall has caused it to be very minimum movement now. It's sad for me to see, feeling helpless to do something more for her. I guess we'll get it checked out by someone else if it doesn't get better or at least back to what the movement was like before the fall. I know my mom is also feeling depressed because of the obvious.
Anyone experienced this kind of fall with their loved one? was there any thing that helped recovery, natural treatments or other meds.
Here we go another, setback.. just when you think there's some stability.
They are the best at exactly what muscles and tendons are involved. I greatly worry about this no movement thing; that is ordinarily the way to a multitude of complications in healing. Do ask for PT consult.
As to neuro, if there is no evidence of bump on head that is not likely needed, and it is unlikely that nerves were overly injured here if there is no white hot shooting nerve pain in the legs. PT can evaluate that as well.
Really, PT is better at this stuff than almost any MD in my experience as a nurse. And gentle exercise to me is a must.
Sure wish you the best and glad this was assessed. PT can evaluate and help with balance exercises as well.
be aware, that it's possible to have a hairline fracture (that means a small fracture that's too small to be seen on x-ray). that can be extremely painful, just as painful as a fracture.
i organized physio for my LO. an excellent physio who did exercises for some months with my LO. it healed. it took a long time to heal and for the pain to go away. (around 6 months).
i also organized caregivers for my LO. my LO isn't allowed to walk anymore, without the caregiver. for example, my LO can use the walker, but the caregiver is holding onto the hips, in case of any fall. my LO never fell again. i also got the physio to teach all our caregivers how to correctly move my LO (in bathroom, bed, chair, walking, etc.).
my friend had one for her dad.. grab handles all over that belt!!
I don’t know where my moms went to… but I know they are good to keep around..
PT was ordered. PT noticed mom was restricting movement on one side, not putting one foot down. PT ordered new x-rays. Result: her hip was broken.
Next door neighbor fell: 911 called. Neighbor refused transport to ER. She sat on her couch, stuck out her legs and "bicycled"--she was in her 90s. She convinced EMTs and me that she was fine.
A few days later, doctor ordered a mobile x-ray at behest of one of her kids due to restricted movement. She had a broken pelvis.
Moral-- keep an eye on things, get PT in. They are amazing at getting to crux of issue.
My suggestion is to leave mom alone until and unless some major issue crops up from falling on her butt. Not every fall is going to be a crisis. Not every fall should result in an ER visit and $10k worth of tests or PT visits unless there are long lasting mobility issues. If mom has balance issues, this can be the beginning of a long relationship with falls.....as it was with my mother......so you'll have to learn how to differentiate an emergency from a slip-and-slide event. A "fall" from a height of a few feet onto a carpeted surface is a slip and slide event, in my opinion ......a fall from full height in the shower or against a hard surface is a real fall. All falls warrant looking into and vital signs checked, but not all falls warrant trips to the ER unless the head was hit or injured, or there is a wound to treat, etc. At moms AL and MC, only head injuries or gashes warranted a trip to the ER....all other falls were checked out by the staff and determined to be non incidents.
I myself have taken a few bad falls in my 50s and 60s, with no long term effects thankfully. Falls happen to everyone as we age, so try to help mom realize she's not feeble or anything bc she fell.....shes just human, like the rest of us.
As you can see, I'm giving you the OTHER view of falls. The non-emergent side of things where there isn't always a crisis at hand or any broken bone to fix. A broken bone like a femur or pelvis won't fix itself......so if there IS one at play, mom won't get better and you'll know further tests are warranted.
Wishing you both the best of luck with all of this aging chaos.
ER, xray, no fractures - home...
Yet when pain (past bruising) & restricted movement persists, visit to Dr, more scans. What started out as a hairline # not seen on xray gets picked up as a francture. Hip, pevis or femur. I have heard of happening many many times from the elderly.
My own LO fell, mostly on butt one side just as you described. Large bruised area with heamatoma too. EMS advised hospital for scans, LO refused but did see PT that week, who thoroughly examined & assessed as soft tissue damage. I only saw the damage weeks later & it looked like a heavy car ran over the middle of her. The PT was correct & movement is back to before.
Mom is still not any better. This Wednesday will be two weeks after she fell. She only needed the walking stick before falling and now needs the walking frame all the time; otherwise, she will lose her balance.
It was a terrible fall because it completely changed her life. She remembers what she was able to do before and gets frustrated and feels down because there's been no change. The PT is coming this Wednesday to check things out.
She will be getting help aids to help get into bed, sit on the couch, and maybe a high chair to perch on.
We've been trying all sorts of oils for massaging—hot water bottles, patches that heat up, CBD oil—but nothing has helped. The codine only works as per its purpose and only for a little while, then it's back to normal.
As per usual, doctors? Science, technology, x-rays, etc. can't seem to just say, "This is what you have, and that's why this is happening to you. I bet if we have millions (exaggeration) to throw at it, with a team of doctors, they'll be able to pinpoint it in a matter of hours. As far as health and many other things in life go, money talks.
We'll see how we get on after the PT. I'm hoping over time that whatever exercises they ask her to do will help.
I feel down too because it's mom, and I want her to feel better again and do the things she used to be able to do.
she might have a hairline fracture. too small to see on x-ray. just as painful as normal fracture.
it took my LO months to recover from a hairline fracture.
a good/experienced PT can help your mother walk, bit by bit, more normally again. please tell the PT and your mother, about the possibility of a hairline fracture.
if there's a fracture (hairline or not), it takes about 8 weeks for the bone to heal. but it can take even longer to feel pain-free.
I took a nasty spill about a couple of months or so ago and twisted my tailbone. The 1st chiropractor visit missed this, hopefully, it was because so many other things were wonky but, I thought I might have damaged my hip and my legs felt like they weighed 200# each.
When this was corrected, it was life changing, so maybe a good neurologist chiropractor would be beneficial.
Modern medical persons never look at our frame, unless they want to operate on it, often unnecessarily.
Best of luck, it is so hard to see those we love begin to fail.
Thank you to everyone that replied to me, I really appreciate everyone and it's touching too. It has almost been a month since my last update.
The PT did attend a few times now, they showed my mom various exercise routine she can do, sitting and standing using the walking frame. The pain my mom has after the fall is at the top of the thigh in left leg and goes into the inner thigh toward the groin area. She is still walking by lifting the left leg from the hip, but there seem to be a slight improvement, in bending at the knee a little.
The PT installed a metal loop that fits on the bed to help her in and out of bed, and get positioned into bed, it's helpful but needs to exert a lot of energy, then her difficulty breathing health condition is triggered.
It's still a struggle from how she was prior to the fall. I know many of you said it takes a long time to recover from a bad fall and that's how it seems; however, seeing signs of improvement are encouraging. The mobility has changed completely at the present time and she needs to be aided when doing most activities. My mom still gets frustrated, that she needs to depend on other people for help, her determination to want to keep doing things herself is strong.
I am glad for the small improvement and hope things continues to improve with her mobility in the months to come.
I still feel sad because this fall happened when she was already trying to cope with other health conditions, especially difficulty breathing due to a heart condition, because she struggles to move and exerts a lot of energy, it also affects her breathing; she's also asthmatic. Despite all of this she's keeping strong, cooking and with assistance, she still takes small trips to the shops.
Inside, I know the realities of life, but don't like to think about other things, try to shut them off in my mind when ever the thought comes in. I don't know if any one gets this, but sometimes I feel the sadness that's to come, now, and often begin to well up, just not in front of my mom. I quickly snap out of it and say to myself, enjoy what's now.
Well lucky for her. I am glad to hear that some improvement was made in the bed railing.
Elderly are very susceptible to falls. My own Mom had several falls, but somehow never managed to get a hip # or skill #
I see in your update that physical therapy has begun, that's good. From the trajectory you've describe she's probably pinched her femoral nerve.
It may be wise to ask them to check to see if the fall caused her to get a hernia in the region where she has the pain. Femoral hernias, whilst less common than inguinal hernias...tend to happen more often in women.
N.B. Disclaimer. Do not act on medical advice on a forum. I cannot give you medical advice on a forum. This is just a suggestion.
Best of luck.
Yes, I can understand your sadness. You are realizing that Mom is aging and she eventually will not be able to do the things she likes to do. Its hard to look at our parents and see how frail they are becoming.